Financial support for your artistic practice
At SOFAM, we manage the authors’ rights of visual artists in Belgium. We are delighted to announce our new call for SOFAM Grants 2024. For this edition, a professional jury will be awarding 16 grants. If you are selected, you will receive €2,500 to invest in your practice, plus visibility in the SOFAM Revue + website. You will also receive authors’ rights from SOFAM for these publications.
Who can apply?
The SOFAM grants are destined for professional visual artists in Belgium, who are a member of SOFAM or who plan to join. The funds that make these grants possible are allocated annually by SOFAM’s members. Are you already a member of another collective management society in Belgium for visual work? Then, unfortunately, this call is not for you. Do read the conditions on the next tab carefully to find out more about who is eligible to apply.
Support is important at every stage
You can participate from the moment you have completed your art studies and are embarking on your artistic practice. You are also welcome to participate if you already have an established practice. If you picked up your practice again after a break, and you have produced a body of work you feel ready to share, you are also most welcome to apply.
The jury
This year, too, we are working with a stellar team of 6 experts in visual arts to make the selection.
We are thrilled to announce the SOFAM Grants Jury of 2024:
- Regine Basha, independent curator, mentor, consultant
- Luc Derycke, graphic designer, publisher Merbooks
- Leonard Pongo, visual artist
- Mélanie Rainville, art historian, curator, researcher at ISELP
- Lisa Wilkens, visual artist
- Eva Wittockx, director contemporary art, curator, M Leuven
We thank them in advance for their commitment.
A celebration of practices, and an editorial balance
We present a range of artistic visions in the SOFAM Revue. In doing so, we aim to include various artistic disciplines (photography, visual arts in all its forms, illustration…) but also a variety of life experiences that underpin the artistic proposals. We ask the jury to select different visual languages, whilst considering the balance of the whole. The strength of the images submitted is a key deciding factor. Have a look at a previous SOFAM Revue here: you can download the PDF all the way at the bottom of that page.
“Try again. Fail again. Fail better.”*
Every year, many excellent artists participate and do not receive a grant. This can be due to several factors. Firstly, there’s the numbers: we simply cannot award a grant to everyone. Each jury has different insights. Of course, the clarity of the application plays a role. There is also the editorial arc. And some artists receive opportunities later. By participating in the call, you are building your practice, whatever the outcome. We acknowledge and respect this investment. Good luck.
* Samuel Beckett, Worstward Ho!, Grove Press Inc., 1983
The link to the application module will appear on www.sofam.be on Dec 20th. We look forward to your participation!
